MINNEAPOLIS -- At long last, the Bomba Squad has arrived.

The Twins couldn’t have timed it better. After their offense slumbered for large swaths of the 2020 season, the homers soared in a flurry during this three-game weekend series against the Indians’ MLB-best pitching staff. Four home runs on Sunday gave the Twins 11 in the series -- including Nelson Cruz's 16th of the year, tied for the most in MLB -- as homers accounted for all but one of Minnesota’s runs in a 7-5 win that completed a sweep at Target Field.

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The Twins won seven of their 10 games against the Tribe in 2020, and all this recent offense is a welcome sight in the midst of their most important stretch of the season -- a 10-game run against the Indians, White Sox and Cubs that could have strong implications in the American League Central race and for postseason seeding.

“I mean, honestly, that’s an impressive series offensively that we’ve had against as good of a pitching staff as I’ve seen in baseball,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There’s not very many pitching staffs that I’ve seen in all my time in baseball that you would clearly take over the Indians right now. … And we went out there for three straight games and put good swings on them. Nothing more that we could ask for from our guys.”

Minnesota stayed within one game of first-place Chicago ahead of a four-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field that starts Monday.

“We’re playing one of the teams that we’re fighting with for the top of the division,” utility man Marwin Gonzalez said. “And then we’re going to Chicago now, which is the same thing. So yeah, it feels like we’re playing the postseason. It’s not really the postseason, but we’re fighting for first place. And that matters a lot.”

Entering this series, the Twins hadn’t hit more than three homers in a game since July 26. Now, they’ve done it two games in a row, thanks to the five they crushed Saturday and the four they got from Gonzalez, Cruz, Ryan Jeffers and Josh Donaldson on Sunday. Minnesota’s first four hits in the series finale were homers, including three that accounted for five runs off starter Triston McKenzie and another off Cal Quantrill.

An even more encouraging sign for the Twins is that the power didn’t all come from the usual suspects. The bottom third of the Minnesota lineup accounted for seven homers and nine runs in the series, including two home runs apiece from Jeffers, Gonzalez and Byron Buxton.

Power has always been a known tool in Jeffers’ arsenal, and the Twins’ No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline has shown that in his past four starts. During that span, he's hit all three of his homers, including one Friday night off Tribe ace Shane Bieber.

Gonzalez entered the series with a .288 slugging percentage and a .573 OPS, and his two homers and five RBIs across the past two games will also go a long way in lengthening Minnesota's lineup during the continued injury absence of Luis Arraez.

“You need to rely on everyone,” Baldelli said. “Yeah, the bottom third of our order took over the game at different points in the series and were able to propel us. It’s a huge pick-me-up for everyone. When you look around and everyone is contributing, it’s all the more positive for us. But it’s also all the tougher when you’re on the other side and you look around and everyone’s doing positive things across the field.”

The Twins have won 10 of their past 12 games, yet their lineup still isn’t fully healthy. Even with Max Kepler’s return, Mitch Garver is expected back soon, while Arraez should complete the lineup later this month.

That is, if the Twins don’t sustain any other injuries before then. They had a pair of close calls Sunday, when both Trevor May (back cramps) and Eddie Rosario (left elbow contusion) made early exits, but Baldelli indicated after the game that both issues were mild and both players should be OK.

It’s a good thing, too, because it’s all hands on deck for the surging Twins, who have first place in their sights.

“We look like a complete team now, not only with the offense,” Cruz said. “The pitching is there, too, now, so we're ready to roll.

“The more we play right now, we get more confident, because we know we can do everything. Get the big hit, get the good pitching -- starters, relievers, they're doing an amazing job also. Every day is a different lineup and we all go out there and perform. So, definitely, we are in really good shape. We're coming."